Memory cells

ABSTRACT

An isolation trench in a semiconductor includes a first isolation trench portion having a first depth and having a first sidewall intersecting a surface of the semiconductor at a first angle. A second isolation trench portion extends within and below the first isolation trench portion. The second isolation trench portion has a second depth and includes a second sidewall. The second sidewall intersects the first sidewall at an angle with respect to the surface that is greater than the first angle. A dielectric material fills the first and second isolation trench portions.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to methods of forming an isolation trenchin a semiconductor, methods of forming an isolation trench in a surfaceof a silicon wafer, methods of forming an isolation trench-isolatedtransistor, trench-isolated transistor, trench isolation structuresformed in a semiconductor, memory cells and DRAMs.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Field-effect transistors (“FETs”) are used in memory structures such asdynamic random access memories (“DRAMs”) for controlling access tocapacitors used to store charge representing information contained inthe memories. In DRAMs, charge leakage effects necessitate periodicrefreshing of the information stored in the memory. In turn, refreshingof the DRAM leads to increased power consumption and delays in memoryoperation. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce charge leakage effectsin DRAMs.

Additionally, it is desirable to minimize the area required forfabrication of the elements of memories such as DRAMs. Electricalisolation of various circuit elements from each other is required. Inturn, electrical isolation requires some of the space used on the DRAMor other integrated circuitry. Various techniques have been developed toreduce the amount of area needed for electrical isolation structures.One technique for providing a high degree of electrical isolation whilerequiring relatively little space is known as shallow trench isolation.

One source of charge leakage in DRAMs is related to carriergeneration-recombination phenomena. In general, lower dopantconcentrations tend to reduce this source of charge leakage. However,other concerns tend to determine lower bounds for dopant concentrations.

The FETs used as access transistors determine some of these otherconcerns. The FETs need to be able to provide a high impedance when theyare turned OFF, and a low impedance connection when they are turned ON.DRAMs and other memories use an addressing scheme whereby a wordlinethat is coupled to many transistor gates is selected, and at the sametime a bitline or digitline that is coupled to many transistor drains isalso selected. A FET that is located at the intersection of the selectedwordline and the selected bitline is turned ON, and that memory cell isaccessed. At the same time, many other FETs have a drain voltage due tothe drains of these FETs being coupled to the selected bitline. TheseFETs exhibit some parasitic conductance as a result of the drainvoltage. In some types of integrated circuits, a portion of thatparasitic conductance is due to corner effects that are an artifact ofusing Trench isolation techniques to isolate the FETs from one anotherand from other circuit elements.

These effects are described in “Subbreakdown Drain Leakage Current inMOSFET” by J. Chen et al., IEEE El. Dev. Lett., Vol. EDL-8, No. 11,November 1987; “Impact Of Shallow Trench Isolation On Reliability OfBuried- And Surface-Channel Sub-μm PFET” by W. Tonti and R. Bolam, IEEECat. No. 0-7803-2031, 1995; “Shallow Trench Isolation For Advanced ULSICMOS Technologies”, M. Nandakumar et al.; and “Shallow Trench IsolationCharacteristics With High-Density-Plasma Chemical Vapor DepositionGap-Fill Oxide For Deep-Submicron CMOS Technologies”, S.-H. Lee et al.,Jpn. J. Appl. Phys., Vol. 37, 1998, pp. 1222-1227, which publicationsare hereby incorporated herein by reference for their general backgroundteachings.

One method of reducing these parasitic conduction effects is to roundthe corner where the isolation trench meets the surface of thesemiconductor material. This may be effected by oxidizing the surface ofthe silicon, as is described in the above-noted publications. However,this approach requires additional processing steps, which tend to resultin reduced yield, among other things.

What is needed is a way to incorporate trench isolation together withFETs that does not increase processing complexity and that providescompact, low-leakage transistors in DRAMs and other circuitry.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect, the present invention provides a method of forming anisolation trench in a semiconductor. The method includes forming a firstisolation trench portion having a first depth and having a firstsidewall intersecting a surface of the semiconductor at a first angle.The method also includes forming a second isolation trench portionwithin and extending below the first isolation trench portion. Thesecond isolation trench portion has a second depth and includes a secondsidewall. The second sidewall intersects the first sidewall at an anglewith respect to the surface that is greater than the first angle. Adielectric material fills the first and second isolation trenchportions.

In another aspect, the present invention includes a method of forming anisolation trench in a surface of a silicon wafer. The method includesforming a mask on the surface, where the mask includes an opening andsidewalls, and etching the silicon surface using gases including CF₄ andCHF₃ in a ratio of CF₄/CHF₃=0.11 to 0.67 to form a first isolationtrench portion.

In a further aspect, the present invention includes a trench-isolatedtransistor. The trench-isolated transistor includes first and secondisolation trenches each disposed on a respective side of a portion ofsilicon. The first and second isolation trenches each include a firstisolation trench portion having a first depth and having a firstsidewall intersecting a surface of the silicon at a first angle. Thefirst and second isolation trenches each also include a second isolationtrench portion within and extending below the first isolation trenchportion. The second isolation trench portion has a second depth andincludes a second sidewall intersecting the first sidewall at an anglewith respect to the surface that is greater than the first angle. Thefirst and second isolation trenches are filled with a dielectricmaterial. The transistor further includes a gate extending across thesilicon portion from the first isolation trench to the second isolationtrench, and source and drain regions extending between the first andsecond isolation trench portions and across the silicon portion. Thesource region is adjacent one side of the gate and the drain region isadjacent another side of the gate that is opposed to the one side.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Preferred embodiments of the invention are described below withreference to the following accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view of shallow trench isolation structuresand a FET, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified side view, in section, taken along section lines2-2 of FIG. 1, of the shallow trench isolation structures and FET ofFIG. 1, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a simplified side view, in section, illustrating formation ofa trench isolation structure, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow chart of a process for forming thestructures of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic diagram of a memory cell thatadvantageously employs the structures of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a DRAM that advantageouslyemploys the structures of FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

This disclosure of the invention is submitted in furtherance of theconstitutional purposes of the U.S. Patent Laws “to promote the Progressof Science and useful Arts” (Article 1, Section 8).

FIG. 1 shows trench isolation structures 10 and a FET 12 formed in asemiconductor substrate 13, in accordance with but one preferredembodiment of the present invention. The FET 12 includes a gate G, whichmay be formed from polysilicon, a source S and a drain D. The trenchisolation structures 10 each include a first isolation trench portion 14having a first depth 16 and having first sidewalls 18 each intersectinga surface 20 of the semiconductor substrate 13 at a first angle θ₁.

The trench isolation structures 10 also each include a second isolationtrench portion 24 within and extending below the first isolation trenchportion 14. The second isolation trench portions 24 have a second depth26 and include second sidewalls 28 each intersecting one of the firstsidewalls 18 at a second angle θ₂ with respect to the surface 20 that isgreater than the first angle θ₁ to form shoulders 30 at the juncture ofthe first sidewall 18 and the second sidewall 28.

In one embodiment, the shoulders 30 result in substantial reduction ofsubthreshold current through the FET 12. In other words, when the FET 12is OFF, the amount of current that can be induced in the FET 12 byapplying voltage to the drain D is greatly reduced.

In one embodiment, the first angle θ₁ is less than about sixty degreesand the second angle θ₂ is eighty degrees or more. In one embodiment,the first angle θ₁ is in a range of from about five degrees to aboutforty-five degrees. In one embodiment, the first angle θ₁ is in aboutthirty-five degrees. In one embodiment, the first angle θ₁ is aboutforty degrees. The concerns addressed in selecting the first angle θ₁are to select an angle θ₁ providing a shoulder that reduces electricalfields in the subsequently-formed FET 12 and to also select an anglethat does not impede subsequent filling of the trench isolationstructures 10 with dielectric material such as silicon dioxide.

Further in the illustrated embodiments, substantially straight linearsegment 18 extends entirely between and to outermost surface portion 20,respectively, and to segment 28. Substantially straight linear segment28 extends from segment 18 to a bottom of the trench isolation structure10.

Alternate embodiments are, of course, contemplated whereby somesubstantially straight linear segment occurs somewhere within each offirst sidewalls 18 and second sidewalls 28, without extending over theentirety of the first 18 and second 28 sidewalls. In the context of thispatent, “substantially straight linear” means a perfectly straightsegment as well as a segment that has a degree of curvature associatedwith it. A curved segment is to be considered “substantially straightlinear” in the context of this patent provided that it has some chordlength greater than or equal to 30 nanometers and has some radius ofcurvature of at least 20 nanometers.

The first sidewall 18 needs to incorporate a lateral dimension wideenough such that wet dips occurring during processing steps such asnitride hard mask removal and those subsequent up to gate oxide growthdo not start to etch down the sidewall of the isolation trench structure10. That dimension is proportional to the various dielectric layerthicknesses, and so can vary greatly from process to process and throughdifferent technology generations. Exemplary minimum extents for thefirst sidewalls 18, i.e., distance from the top surface 20 to theshoulder 30, are in a range of from 50 Angstroms to 500 Angstroms.

FIG. 3 is a simplified side view, in section, illustrating formation ofa trench isolation structure, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention. In one embodiment, the trench isolation structures 10are created by forming a masking layer 32 on the semiconductor surface20. In one embodiment, the masking layer 32 includes a silicon dioxidelayer 34 having a thickness of about 100 Angstroms and a silicon nitridelayer 36 having a thickness of about 1000 Angstroms. A photoresist layer38 is formed on the masking layer 32, and openings 40 corresponding tothe trench isolation structures 10 are formed in the photoresist. Theopenings 40 have sidewalls 42.

In one embodiment, a plasma etch is used to form openings in the maskinglayer 32. The plasma etch is also used to etch the first isolationtrench portions 14. In one embodiment, the plasma etch is performedusing a mixture of fluorocarbon and fluorohydrocarbon gases, such as, byway of example, CF₄, CHF₃, CH₂F₂ and/or C₂F₈ or the like. In oneembodiment, the plasma etch is performed using a mixture of CF₄ and CHF₃in a ratio ranging from 0.11 to 0.67.

In one embodiment, the masking layer 32 is etched, and then etching iscontinued for a predetermined time to etch the first isolation trenchportion 14. In one embodiment, the etching is carried out for 30seconds, where the first half of the etching process is used to broachthe masking layer 32. In one embodiment, the etching is carried out for40 seconds. A broad variety of implementations are possible, usingdifferent etch gas compositions, pressures and etch times, as may beseen by comparing these examples to the example below. In oneembodiment, etching is carried out using parameters given below in TableI in a Hitachi microwave etcher model 511A, using the photoresist 38,silicon nitride 36 and silicon dioxide 34 mask structure 32 describedabove. TABLE I EXEMPLARY SHOULDER FORMATION PROCESSING PARAMETERSParameter Units Mask etch Overetch Trench De-chuck Step time seconds 6022 78 1.0 Gas 1 sccm 200 200 0 150 Gas 2 sccm 160 60 0 0 Gas 3 sccm 40140 0 0 Gas 4 sccm 0 0 100 0 Gas 5 sccm 0 0 5.7 0 Pressure mTorr 20 20 67.5 Power 1 W 550 550 800 1000 Power 2 W 90 130 60 0Notes:gas 1 corresponds to argon, gas 2 corresponds to CF₄, gas 3 correspondsto CHF₃, gas 4 corresponds to HBr, gas 5 corresponds to O₂, power 1corresponds to magnetron power and power 2 corresponds to applied RFpower.

The shoulder 30 is formed by a process whereby a polymer 44 is formed onthe sidewalls 42. By adjusting the composition of the etching gases,applied RF power, chamber pressure and the like, the polymer 44 isformed at a rate that encourages a particular first angle θ₁ to beformed during the etching process. By stopping the etching and polymerdeposition at the end of the predetermined time interval, the firstdepth 16 can be controlled. The second isolation trench portion 24 isthen etched, using a different etch gas mixture, for example, as notedin Table I.

In another embodiment, a first etch is carried out to provide the firstisolation trench portion 14. A second masking step is then carried out,and openings corresponding to the second isolation trench portion 24 arecreated. The second isolation trench portion 24 is then etched.

In one embodiment, the first depth 16 is chosen to be five to thirty orfifty percent of the total trench depth, i.e., the first depth 16 plusthe second depth 26. In one embodiment, the first depth 16 is chosen tobe five to fifteen percent of the total trench depth. In one embodiment,bottoms of the trenches are implanted with dopant after the first 14 andsecond 24 trench portions are etched. This allows a shallower trench tobe employed, and results in the first depth 16 being a larger percentageof the total trench depth.

In one embodiment, implant doses required to form the source S and drainD regions are reduced by as much as ten percent when the shoulder 30 ispresent, resulting in an increase of as much as thirty percent of thetime required between refresh cycles. For example, if a typical implantdose of 5.4×10¹²/cm² were ordinarily required to dope channel regions, adose of 4.9×10¹²/cm² could be employed together with formation of theshoulder 30.

Following etching of the first 14 and second 24 isolation trenchportions, the photoresist layer 38 and the polymer 44 may be strippedusing a conventional oxygen ashing process. A dielectric material,typically silicon dioxide, may be used to fill the first 14 and second24 isolation trench portions, and conventional chemical-mechanicalpolishing may be used to planarize the resultant structure. In oneembodiment, plasma etchback is employed to planarize the dielectricmaterial, usually together with another patterning step or a planarizingcoating layer. The gate G may be formed using conventional polysilicon,polycide or metal, and the source S and drain D may be formed usingconventional ion implantation techniques or doping outdiffusion fromsubsequent layers.

FIG. 4 is a simplified flow chart of a process P1 for forming thestructures of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

In a step S1, the first isolation trench portions 14 are formed. In oneembodiment, the first isolation trench portions 14 are formed by formingthe masking layer 32, followed by plasma etching, as described above.

In a step S2, the second isolation trench portions 24 are formed. In oneembodiment, the second isolation trench portions 24 are formed byetching as described above with reference to FIG. 3 and Table I. In oneembodiment, the second isolation trench portions 24 are formed byseparate masking and etching operations.

In a step S3, the first 14 and second 24 trench portions are filled witha dielectric using conventional processing techniques as describedabove. The step S3 may include planarization of the dielectric material,for example via conventional chemical-mechanical polishing.

In a step S4, the FET 12 is formed, using conventional processingtechniques, as discussed above. The process P1 then ends, and processingcontinues using conventional processing operations.

FIG. 5 is a simplified schematic diagram of a memory cell 50 thatadvantageously employs the structures of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention. The memory cell 50 includesthe FET 12 of FIGS. 1 and 2, a capacitor 52 coupled to the source S ofthe FET 12, a wordline 54 coupled to the gate G (and to other gates inother memory cells) and a bitline 56 coupled to the drain D of the FET12 (and to other drains in other memory cells). By selecting thewordline 54 and the bitline 56, the FET 12 is turned ON, and chargestored in the capacitor 52 can then be measured to determine the datumstored in the memory cell 50. Alternatively, by selecting and turningthe FET 12 ON, charge can be injected into the capacitor 52 to write adatum therein, and the FET 12 can then be turned OFF to store the datumin the memory cell 50.

FIG. 6 is a simplified block diagram of a DRAM 60 that advantageouslyemploys the structures of FIGS. 1, 2 and 5, in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The DRAM 60 includes a memory cellarray 62 coupled to a group of wordlines 56 and a group of bitlines 54.Address decoders, such as a row decoder 64 and a column decoder 68,decode addresses provided via a bus, allowing data to be read from orwritten to memory cells 50 in the memory cell array 62.

In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described inlanguage more or less specific as to structural and methodical features.It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited tothe specific features shown and described, since the means hereindisclosed comprise preferred forms of putting the invention into effect.The invention is, therefore, claimed in any of its forms ormodifications within the proper scope of the appended claimsappropriately interpreted in accordance with the doctrine ofequivalents.

1-61. (canceled)
 62. A memory cell, comprising: a capacitor; atrench-isolated transistor having a gate, a drain and a source, thesource being coupled to one terminal of the capacitor, thetrench-isolated transistor including first and second isolation trencheseach disposed on a respective side of a portion of semiconductivematerial, the first and second isolation trenches each comprising: afirst isolation trench portion having a first depth and having a firstsidewall intersecting a surface of the semiconductive material at afirst angle other than ninety degrees, the first sidewall comprising asegment which is substantially straight linear, the first sidewall notbeing substantially straight linear along an entirety of its length; asecond isolation trench portion within and extending below the firstisolation trench portion, the second isolation trench portion having asecond depth and including a second sidewall intersecting the firstsidewall at a second angle with respect to the surface that is greaterthan the first angle and is other than ninety degrees, the secondisolation trench portion having a bottom portion at the second depth ofthe semiconductive material, the semiconductive material at the bottomportion being doped relative adjacent portions of the semiconductivematerial; and a dielectric material filling the first and secondisolation trench portions.
 63. The memory cell of claim 62, wherein thefirst angle is in a range of from about thirty degrees to about seventydegrees and the second angle is more than eighty degrees.
 64. The memorycell of claim 62, wherein the first angle is in a range of from aboutthirty degrees to about seventy degrees.
 65. The memory cell of claim62, wherein the first depth is between five and fifty percent of a totaltrench depth.
 66. The memory cell of claim 62 incorporated in DRAMcircuitry.
 67. The memory cell of claim 62, wherein the second sidewallcomprises a segment which is substantially straight linear, the secondsidewall not being substantially straight linear along an entirety ofits length.
 68. The memory cell of claim 62, wherein the first portionhas a depth from about 50 Angstroms to about 500 Angstroms.
 69. A memorycell, comprising: a capacitor; a trench-isolated transistor having agate, a drain and a source, the source being coupled to one terminal ofthe capacitor, the trench-isolated transistor including first and secondisolation trenches each disposed on a respective side of a portion ofsemiconductive material, the first and second isolation trenches eachcomprising: a first isolation trench portion having a first depth andhaving a first sidewall intersecting a surface of the semiconductor at afirst angle other than ninety degrees, the first sidewall comprising asegment which is substantially straight linear, the first sidewall notbeing substantially straight linear along an entirety of its length; asecond isolation trench portion within and extending below the firstisolation trench portion, the second isolation trench portion having asecond depth and including a second sidewall intersecting the firstsidewall at a second angle with respect to the surface that is greaterthan the first angle and is other than ninety degrees; and a dielectricmaterial filling the first and second isolation trench portions.
 70. Thememory cell of claim 69, wherein the second sidewall comprises a segmentwhich is substantially straight linear, the second sidewall not beingsubstantially straight linear along an entirety of its length.
 71. Thememory cell of claim 69, wherein the first angle is in a range of fromabout thirty degrees to about seventy degrees and the second angle ismore than eighty degrees.
 72. The memory cell of claim 69, wherein thefirst angle is in a range of from about thirty degrees to about seventydegrees.
 73. The memory cell of claim 69, wherein the first depth isbetween five and fifty percent of a total trench depth.
 74. The memorycell of claim 69, wherein the incorporated in DRAM circuitry.
 75. Thememory cell of claim 69, wherein the first portion has a depth fromabout 50 Angstroms to about 500 Angstroms.